The write-up, already written

INTERNAL RECOMMENDATION

Client hospitality, four Tuesdays, one a quarter

Prepared by [YOUR NAME] · [DATE] · Decision needed by [SIGN-BY DATE]

The recommendation

That we take eighty seats across four private client evenings, one Tuesday every quarter, ten to thirty at each, at a fixed cost of £40,000 plus VAT, four invoices, one before each night. Nothing is invoiced until the evening it covers is confirmed. If we would rather see one first, they sell a single night at £15,000 plus VAT and credit it against the year.

What it is

A private music-led evening in London that several companies host jointly. We take eighty seats across four nights, ten to thirty at each, and invite our own clients, and the prospects we are working on, under our own name. Doors at six, finish at nine, last song at half ten, always a Tuesday.

The other companies taking part are named to us before we sign, where they have agreed to be named, and if there is a conflict with ours we walk away.

Nobody is permitted to sell or pitch to anyone at these evenings. There are no pitches, no presentations and no speakers. That is the entire point of the format and it is written into the contract for every company taking part.

What it costs, and where it comes from

Total

£40,000 + VAT for the year. £500 per seat per evening, eighty seats across four evenings, ten to thirty at each, so eighty attendances.

Payment

Four invoices of £10,000 + VAT, one before each night, so £12,000 four times a year and £48,000 including VAT in all. Each night is invoiced on the 1st of the last month of the quarter before, and paid by the end of that quarter. So nothing is booked for a night until it's paid for. The first night is the exception: invoiced 22 January, paid within 30 days. Payment is by bank transfer. No lump sum and nothing up front.

Term

Twelve months from the first evening, or until the fourth evening has been delivered, whichever is later. We may cancel at any time, and the fee for the term remains payable.

Budget line

Client entertaining. The same line as our hospitality and any sporting boxes. This is not campaign spend and does not compete with it.

Tax

Not deductible, and the VAT is not recoverable. That is the standard UK position for client entertaining and applies equally to everything else on that line. [FINANCE TO CONFIRM]

What we get for it

• Eighty seats across the year, our own hosts included, which we allocate ourselves and can move between evenings up to each sign-by date.
• The aim is roughly twenty accounts hosted properly over the year, three or four people deep at each, rather than one contact each.
• Our name on the evening, our own hosted area, and our own people hosting it. Guests are invited by us, in our name.
• Photographs and a short film from every evening, which we can use however we like, internally and externally.
• They do not publish any image in which our guests can be recognised.
• No production work. Each date is confirmed in writing once the venue's held, and the venue, line-up and running order are handled for us. We are taking seats, not commissioning an event.
• Included in the price. Full venue hire, food and a hosted bar all night, two DJs, an MC, a live act, a photographer and a videographer.
• Not included. Getting guests there and home, hotels and gifts.

Why this rather than the alternatives

A roundtable

Ten to twelve people means one attendee per company. Good for reach across accounts, no use for depth within one.

A conference or trade show

Reach, without anyone getting to know anyone. Our people spend the day at a stand.

Corporate hospitality

Mid-market per seat. Wimbledon official hospitality is from £1,395 a head plus VAT, and The Open from £975 plus VAT, each for one day. This is £500 a seat for an evening, food and hosted bar included.

Doing it ourselves

Cheaper per seat, and it becomes a two-month project for someone in the team. Venue, licensing, catering, bar, sound, security and production.

Sources. Wimbledon, Keith Prowse, the Championships' official hospitality partner, checked September 2026. The Open, The R&A 2027 price list, checked October 2026.

What we are not buying, and I want this on the record

There is no promise of turnout, pipeline, retention or return, and I have not been given one. There is good evidence that a room like this changes how the people in it feel about each other. There is no published evidence that it moves a contract.

I am recommending this to get more people from each named account into one room, measured in people rather than revenue. If we require a forecast return before approving it, we should not approve it.

How I will measure it

• Which of our target accounts came, and how many people from each. The aim is three or four per account, not one.
• New contacts at those accounts, added to our CRM the week after.

For context, our average account is worth [£_______] a year to us.

What we have to do

• Send our own invitations, in our name, and run our own replies.
• Provide confirmed guest names one week before each evening.
• Decide which accounts get seats. [OWNER: ___________]
• Nominate our own hosts for the evening, ideally three of our people per night.
• Check our guest list against our own hospitality policy. Guests in the public sector, NHS, pharma or education, at FCA-regulated firms, in procurement, or in a live tender with us may not be able to accept.

The risk, and what caps it

The supplier

Connect The Vibe Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 17210211, VAT registration number 525 8380 76, 71-75 Shelton Street, London, WC2H 9JQ. Founded by Charlie Hurley, ten years in enterprise software sales. The DJs and MC are booked direct, not through an agency.

The first evening is Tuesday 23 March 2027. The first five companies hold their rate for three years in return for one short reference call a year, if asked. Our name, logo and any case study only appear with our sign-off.

The decision

Approve

£40,000 + VAT from the client entertaining line, four invoices, one before each night.

By

Sign by 22 January to be in the room on 23 March. Signing by then gives us time to invite our clients properly.

If we do nothing

We start at the following evening instead. The next quarters are Q2, Q3 and Q4, each date confirmed in writing once the venue's held. Our four nights are the first four confirmed after we sign, whatever the year.

The full terms are published at connectthevibe.com/terms and can be printed from that page.